Decatur airport adding flights to Chicago

DECATUR -- Air service is scheduled to begin between Decatur and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport next week.

Air Choice One says it will begin offering three round-trip flights a day starting Thursday. The airline started offering flights to St. Louis from Decatur last month.

Commercial service from Decatur is federally subsidized. Past air service to Chicago hasn't drawn enough traffic to continue.

But airport director Joe Attwood is optimistic that this time things will be different. He says business travelers in Decatur have been pushing for flights to O'Hare because of the range of connections they can make in Chicago.

Decatur is home to, among others, agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co.